EANS-News: USU Software AG continues positive growth trend in Q3 2011 and
forecasts best result in company history for year as whole
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Earnings/quarterly report/9-month report
Möglingen (euro adhoc) - November 17, 2011 - USU Software AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU28)
is still on track for record results in the current fiscal year. According to
the figures published today for the third quarter and the first nine months of
2011, the positive growth trend has continued with significant increases in
sales and earnings as against the previous year. USU benefited from both its new
proprietary products and acquisitions as well as persistently strong growth in
international business. Thanks to the extremely positive business performance in
the first nine months of this fiscal year and the current sales forecasts for
the final quarter, the Management Board is anticipating consolidated sales of
more than EUR 43 million and operating earnings (EBITDA) of at least EUR 6
million. This will mark a new record for sales and earnings in the history of
USU Software AG. With its high liquidity and equity ratio, USU is still
excellently positioned to selectively take advantage of future growth options to
continue moving the entire Group forwards.
Significant sales increase and strong earnings growth in Q3 2011
USU Software AG continued the positive growth trend of the previous quarters of
2011 in the third as well, generating a sales increase of 13.7% year-on-year to
EUR 11.21 million (Q3 2010: EUR 9.86 million). This essentially resulted from
organic business. The Swiss subsidiary get IT Services GmbH, acquired and
included in consolidation at the end of July and now operating as USU Consulting
GmbH, contributed EUR 0.10 million to consolidated sales for the first time. In
terms of earnings, USU increased its profitability strongly in proportion to
sales in the third quarter of 2011 as well. EBITDA climbed from EUR 1.11 million
in the previous year to EUR 1.69 million in the reporting quarter, soaring by
52.1%. At 15.1% (Q3 2010: 11.3%), the EBITDA margin has already exceeded the
medium-term target of 15% in the reporting quarter. The USU Group´s EBIT also
improved significantly by 73.1% to EUR 1.17 million (Q3 2010: EUR 0.68 million).
USU increased its net profit for the quarter by 66.0% as against the same
quarter of the previous year to EUR 0.96 million (Q3 2010: EUR 0.58 million).
Accordingly, earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.09 (Q3 2010: EUR 0.06).
Proprietary new products and acquisitions elevate software business
Over the first nine months, USU generated sales growth of 27.6% year-on-year
from EUR 25.09 million in the first three quarters of 2010 to EUR 32.01 million.
In license business, which grew strongly by 53.1% to EUR 4.06 million (Q1-Q3
2010: EUR 2.65 million), USU profited from both the license proceeds of its
newly launched proprietary software products Valuemation 4 and KnowledgeCenter 5
and the additional income from software licenses of Aspera GmbH, which was
acquired last year. In the same period, USU increased its maintenance income by
29.1% to EUR 7.82 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 6.06 million) and its sales from
consulting services by 25.4% to EUR 19.00 million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 15.15
million). Other income amounted to a total of EUR 1.14 million in the first nine
months of fiscal 2011 (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 1.23 million). This resulted in
particular from merchandise sales of third-party hardware and software for
projects, in turn arising from customer orders for end-to-end solutions as Power
Management of LeuTek.
Ongoing positive performance in partner-based international business
In its international business, which results from the comprehensive partner and
sales activities of recent years, the USU Group generated strong growth in
consolidated sales generated outside Germany in the first nine months of 2011 of
63.4% as against the previous year to EUR 3.17 million (Q1-Q3 2011: EUR 1.94
million). The share of consolidated sales generated outside Germany therefore
rose to 9.9% after 7.7% in the first three quarters of the previous year.
Triple EBITDA and quadruple net profit for the period
With an EBITDA increase of 194.9% as against the previous year to EUR 4.16
million (Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 1.41 million), the USU Group virtually tripled the
profitability resulting from its original software and IT service business in
the reporting period. In line with this, USU boosted its EBITDA margin from 5.6%
in the first nine months of 2010 to 13.0% in the first nine months of 2011.
USU´s EBIT also surged significantly year-on-year by 520.0% to EUR 2.64 million
(Q1-Q3 2010: EUR 0.43 million). In total, the USU Group generated a net profit
for the first nine months of the current fiscal year of EUR 1.78 million (Q1-Q3
2010: EUR 0.44 million) - quadrupling the figure for the same period of the
previous year. Earnings per share rose accordingly from EUR 0.04 in the first
three quarters of 2010 to currently EUR 0.17.
Financing remains solid with high Group liquidity and equity ratio
As a result of the substantial year-on-year increase in earnings, the USU
Group´s cash flow from operating activities climbed considerably from EUR 0.96
million in the first nine months of 2010 to EUR 4.08 million in the same period
of 2011. Accordingly, USU increased the Group´s liquidity in the form of cash
and cash equivalents including securities to a total of EUR 12.06 million
(December 31, 2010: EUR 11.06 million) in spite of the payment of the dividend
to the shareholders of USU Software AG. By contrast, after the profit
distribution to USU shareholders, equity was down slightly on the comparative
figure as of the end of fiscal 2010 at EUR 48.19 million (December 31, 2010: EUR
48.49 million). With total assets of EUR 68.00 million (December 31, 2010: EUR
66.88 million), the equity ratio was 70.9% as of September 30, 2011 (December
31, 2010: 72.5%).
Management Board forecasting further record in revenues and earnings
Thanks to the extremely positive business performance in the first nine months
of this fiscal year, the high level of orders on hand of EUR 20.10 million
(September 30, 2010: EUR 16.60 million) as of the end of the third quarter and
the current sales forecast for the final quarter, the Management Board expects
to successfully implement the guidance it raised on the publication of its
half-year figures for 2011 of consolidated sales of more than EUR 43 million and
operating earnings (EBITDA) for the Group as a whole of at least EUR 6 million,
thereby setting a new record for sales and earnings in the history of USU
Software AG. If the uncertain financial factors on the USU Group´s core European
market are resolved and the economic environment stabilizes in the coming
months, the Management Board is anticipating a strong, lasting investment
propensity among companies, particularly in the financial services sector, and
further growth effects from this in 2012 as well. The Management Board is
therefore planning to enable the shareholders of USU Software AG to participate
significantly in the company´s business success in 2011 and beyond, and to
continue the shareholder-friendly dividend policy established in previous years.
The complete nine-month report for 2011 is available for download on the USU
Software AG website at www.usu-software.de. Further information will be
presented by the Management Board of the company at the analyst and investor
conference "German Equity Forum 2011" on November 21, 2011 at 4:30 pm at the
Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt, Room Milan (Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1, 60327
Frankfurt/Main).
USU Software AG
The USU Group is Europe´s largest provider of IT Management and Knowledge
Management software. Market leaders from every sector of the international
economy create transparency with USU applications, while also increasing
flexibility, decreasing risks and cutting costs. In addition to USU AG (founded
in 1977), the subsidiaries Aspera GmbH, LeuTek GmbH, OMEGA Software GmbH and USU
Consulting GmbH belong to USU Software AG (ISIN DE 000A0BVU28), which is listed
in the Prime Segment of the German Stock Exchange (DAX) in Frankfurt and on the
German Entrepreneurial Index (GEX).
With its Valuemation® product line, USU offers a top-quality portfolio for
knowledge-based service management, the merits of which have been recognized by
leading market analysts around the world - all from one single, reliable source.
What's more, this modular suite also fully supports the industry standard ITIL®.
The USU Group's products in this sector are complemented and enhanced with the
SmartTrack license management solution from Aspera GmbH, the ZIS product family
for systems management from LeuTek GmbH as well as the myCMDB software from
OMEGA Software GmbH. USU Consulting offers top-notch strategy consulting for IT
service management.
With KnowledgeCenter technology, customers can activate and leverage all the
knowledge resources within their organizations. This system application bundles
all the various communications and information channels on one central platform.
With the support of intelligent knowledge bases from USU, call and service
centers provide accurate, individualized answers to over 25 million inquiries
per year.
By developing and maintaining complex, customer-specific applications, USU
experts can combine user-requested features, sector-specific knowledge and
technological expertise to create individual, customized solutions. Achieving
process and system integration and implementing knowledge portals and employee
portals are some of USU´s other well-established and proven core competencies.
Further inquiry note:
USU Software AG
Investor Relations
Falk Sorge
Spitalhof
D-71696 Möglingen
Tel.: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 351
Fax: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 108
E-Mail: f.sorge@usu-software.de
USU Software AG
Corporate Communications
Dr. Thomas Gerick
Tel.: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 440
Fax: +49 (0) 71 41 - 48 67 909
E-Mail: t.gerick@usu-software.de
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: USU Software AG
Spitalhof
D-71696 Möglingen
phone: +49 (0)7141 4867 0
FAX: +49 (0)7141 4867 20
mail: investor@usu-software.de
WWW: http://www.usu-software.de
sector: Software
ISIN: DE000A0BVU28
indexes: CDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin,
Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München, regulated dealing:
Stuttgart
language: English